Meandering Paths (shunning straight rows)

I have visions of meandering paths. Perennials interspersed with annuals. Gardens in themes. Soft grass (or mowed weeds) in the path. Maybe wood chips. Maybe pea gravel. I want to walk upon something soft. My granddaughter never wears shoes, what would she love to walk on?

Hills and secret benches for pondering butterflies. A pond or two. Corn growing the way I have read in old American Indian gardening recollections, a large hill, seven kernels around, squash plants growing between mounds. Beans of course growing up the corn.

What if we took a world journey through the gardens? What if you begin your trek by the multiple rose bushes in the English garden and walk past the peas and cucumbers, radishes, lettuce…

Then you turn the bend and suddenly you are in Ireland? There are swirling mounds of potatoes and kale, parsnips and cabbage.

In Italy the tomatoes would be red and plump near the eggplant and oregano. The basil and zucchini and artichokes (I’ll try to grow them here.) and garlic tucked amongst.

In the Asian garden yard long red beans hang over soybeans and pak choi. Snow peas for stir fry interspersed with Thai basil and green onions.

In the Americas the corn will stand proudly waving with pumpkins at its feet. The old varieties of beans will slither upwards. Homage to my southern ancestors with collard greens and sweet potatoes (I’ll try to grow those here too!).

Flags or little statues and annual flowers join in the fun. And the medicine plants will fill all spaces, rest assured. Forty plus varieties of herbs that we use in medicine will add beauty and pollinators to the spaces.

The orchard will be grand, with plum and cherry (cherry bark for medicine), apples, and apricots, willow, and hawthorn, sumac, maple, and bushes of berries. A meditation pool. A fire pit.

A place of enchantment is what I wish to create, not just for sustenance of the body this time, but for sustenance of the soul….

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6 thoughts on “Meandering Paths (shunning straight rows)”

If you have someone who likes to go barefoot, I would stay away from wood chips. Too many little splinters in little feet are uncomfortable. I like the idea of pea gravel or you could have grass or moss growing up between stones. You have a great vision for what you want to do with your garden.

Sounds glorious, we have had many visits to a wonderful vets while we have been here and they have a sensory garden. It’s not just for the animals but also the stressed out owners! Underfoot is rounded pea shingle around large smooth slabs of granite, it looks and feels amazing underfoot.

Katie Lynn Sanders is an urban Farmgirl, writer, Mama, Grammie, and herbalist. Katie lives with her husband, Gandalf the Great Pyrenees, kitties, and seven chickens in a hundred year old adobe in Pueblo. She is the writer of two blogs; FarmgirlSchool.org and DancingWithFeathers.com. You can find all of Katie's books at www.AuthorKatieSanders.com